Creating Early and Late (ELC) Cover for Corncrakes

Early and Late Cover provides suitable tall vegetation throughout the breeding season, especially at the start and end of the season when grazed or cut vegetation in grass fields is too short for the birds.
Why do Corncrakes Need Early Cover?
Corncrakes spend most of their lives in tall vegetation; or ‘cover’. Early cover is important for corncrakes returning from Africa, as there tends to be very little vegetation growth in the areas they return to by April/ May.
Corncrakes need cover to:
Hide from predators
Hunt for food
Nest and raise their young
Attract them to an area when they are at the end of their migration
What this will achieve
The aim of this measure is to manage areas which will provide vegetation cover for the protection of Corncrakes, their eggs and fledglings, throughout the breeding season, in particular the early and late stages when available cover is scarce. Each calling male requires at least 0.1ha of good quality ELC habitat.
Early and late cover (ELC) maintenance and creation, when carried out adjacent to the nominated fields selected for Corncrake-friendly mown (CFM) or grazed grassland management, will provide cover for Corncrakes arriving back from wintering grounds in April and May and also will provide shelter late in the season when most of the surrounding grassland has been cut and/or grazed. This is because Corncrakes require vegetation which is at least 20cm (8 inches) high for the entire breeding season.
ELC creation
New early cover areas can be created during autumn/winter months or in early spring when Corncrakes are not present on their breeding grounds. Depending on local soil conditions and what type of tall vegetation is available locally, farmers should aim to create patches of tall vegetation.
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